Photo Shoot
by StelzaRinator
Summary: Matsumoto and Yuzu had decided to go on a suicide mission which involved tight-fitting dresses, professionally made vests, make up and Matsumoto's lucky camera. HitsuKarin, some IchiRuki and a little KiraHina moment. Two-chapter fic.
1. Chapter 1: Soccer Practice

**Author's Note:** Um, hi guys *wave*. This is actually my first fan-made story I have ever written in my life, so I really need your feed backs to help me improve on some stuff. If you spot any grammatical errors or spelling mistake please **do **tell me, since English is only a second language to me (ESL as people like to classify it).

I was actually planning on making this story a one-shot but then... Meh, I'm making it into a short two-chapter story (or two-shots, whatever you want to call it). I got the inspiration from a picture that I drew on dA, same title if you want to search it up ^^.

Well, I guess that's all. Enjoy reading :-)

* * *

**Photo Shoot**

It was like any other Saturday morning at the Kurosaki residence. Yuzu was baking an apple and cinnamon cake, Isshin was goofing off in the living room, Ichigo was out Hollow hunting with his black-haired girlfriend Rukia, and Karin was...

"Yuzu! I'm going!"

The youngest Kurosaki member ran down the stairs with her sports bag slung over one shoulder. It was zipped up half way, showing a bundle of black T-shirt, dark navy jeans and a plain white jacket. She skidded inside the kitchen and snatched her black water bottle (also giving her sister a light hug) before sprinting towards the door. Of course, Isshin Kurosaki wasn't going to let his tomboy daughter go out so easily.

"MY LITTlE KARIN-CHAN!"

Karin snapped her head towards the direction of the voice and yelped in surprise as the Kurosaki man came flying towards her. She ducked just in time her dad made an attempt at glomping her. Isshin hit the wall with a loud _crash _before sliding down to the floor. Her father started to twitch on the wooden floorboard as Karin sighed in annoyance. That was the last straw. _Now _she was pissed. Why you ask? Well, it was a simple story really.

She woke up _really _late this morning and was rushing to the bathroom to take a shower when she found out that her brother was having shower sex with his girlfriend. And she saw it (They didn't lock the door, damnit!).

It was a _very,_

_Awful,_

_Disgusting,_

_Inappropriate,_

Thing she saw in her entire was like porn in real life! She shuddered as the memory played again in her mind. So, after she saw all that, Karin quickly shut -more like slammed- the door closed and ran to the toilet to puke out her dinner. Fifteen minutes later, Ichigo and Rukia finally finished their 'business' and acted like nothing had happened. It's either they're _completely _oblivious or that they're lost in their own thoughts about... _Before_. Karin decided on the the later. The black-haired girl finally took her shower (she remembered to spray the whole cubicle before entering). After _all _of that had happened, the stupid perv-lion decided to make a big entrance to the show and stole her sports bra. Good thing Ichigo caught him before he could even jump out of the window...

Wait, where was she again...?

Oh, right. Soccer practice.

So there she was, standing in front of her idiotic father (who was blocking the door), late for soccer practice. Isshin's hand shot up and he muffled something that sounded awfully similar to "My baby has grown up" before grabbing Karin's left ankle. Her eyes twitched in annoyance as she growled.

_Oh... _She was pissed alright.

So without further a dew, Karin swung her right leg backwards and kicked her father right in the face,

"Move it, Goat-chin!"

Once again, Isshin ungracefully hit the wall. Though this time, he managed to make a hug crater. Oh, joy. _Now _she have to pay that with her salary.

_'Way to go, Goat-chin,' _she glared at her father's limp body and huffed, _'way to go.'_

In a flash, she slipped on her shoes and ran out the door. The cold air instantly hit her face and she took a deep breath, welcoming the coolness with her whole body. The morning air in Karakura Town has always been fresh (especially in Winter). A golden leaf fell on Karin's head, causing goosebumps to arose from her arms. She stood there for a while, enjoying the moment before her phone decided to vibrate inside her soccer shorts (it's a text message from the short ringtone). She grabbed the offending item and started to walk. The text was from Kazuya.

_Where the hell r u? Coach is totally pissed that ur not here! Get ur sorry ass here right now Kurosaki I don't wanna do 50 pushups becoz of u._

Karin gasped. She totally forgot about Soccer practice! She slipped her iPhone inside her pocket and was about to sprint when someone bumped into her. The Kurosaki girl fell down and dropped her bag. The person was luckier than her, he was still standing straight. He saw Karin scowling on the ground and offered her his hand- only to have it being slapped away.

"Watch it, buddy! Can't you see that I'm in a rush to go somewhere?" she stood up and swiftly grabbed her bag. Turning around to face the stranger, she was met by an amused smirk and bright aquamarine eyes. It took Karin a few moments to comprehend the situation before realization slapped her across the face,

"Tōshirō!"

The white-haired boy's smirk became bigger.

"Oh wow. That was a World Record, Kurosaki." he pretended to check his imaginary watch, "The last time you bumped into me, it took you a full five minutes to actually _recognize _your own Best Friend." Karin's cheeks flushed a warm pink colour. Hey, it wasn't her fault that she didn't recognize him! Blame him for changing his hairstyle! She puffed out one of her cheeks,

"Well _excuse me, _Mr Prodigy. I've had a lot of things going through my-"

And again, her phone decided to interrupt. She fished out her iPhone and checked the message. This time, it's from Donny.

_Hurry up Kurosaki! Coach is making us do planks! U know I hate them!_

Karin cursed before smiling apologetically at Tōshirō.

"Sorry, Tōshirō. Coach is torturing the team because of me. I have to go now!" and with that being said, Karin sprinted off to the direction of the Soccer field. Tōshirō shook his head, Karin will always be Karin. Nothing will be able to replace her. He watched her retreating back before continuing on his walk.

* * *

"Kurosaki!"

"About damn time you got here!"

Karin smiled sheepishly at her teammates' sweaty faces. She dropped her bag on the grassy ground before rubbing the back of her head,

"Um... Oops?"

Seconds later, she felt a hand grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her off the ground. She gasped as the Soccer Coach stuck his face in front of her's,

"Where have ya been, Kurosaki?"

"Uh... I was-"

"You know training starts at 7:00am, don't cha?"

A spit landed on Karin's cheek and she cringed in disgust. The coach glared at the girl,

"You're lucky you're only a _vice captain," _his grip on her shirt tightened, causing it to reveal her flat stomach, "or I would've kicked you outta the team." A flash of pain passed through Karin's eyes, she _hated _this man with all her guts. It took all her self control to not rip his head off, after all, training under the famous Flash-Goddess would make that a piece of cake. Karin glared at the 45-year-old man,

"You know, _Coach. _Your boys over there are gonna die from nose bleed if you don't let go of me," the trainer looked at Karin in confusion. She sighed in annoyance, "your grip on my shirt is lifting it up. If you tighten it anymore, my bra will be flashed for the world to see." she smirked as her coach let go of her as if her top was made out if fire.

_'Perverts.'_

As expected, nearly half of her teammates were already on the ground clutching their bloody noses. You gotta admit, training in martial arts and soccer could _really _change your physical looks. Before, she was just a short and thin 10-year-old girl that absolutely _loved _soccer. But now... Well, let's just say that puberty helped the development just a bit. Now, her legs are fit and strong, same goes for her arms (doing around 60 pushups per day in her room actually payed off), her chest had also shown some development. Yuzu said that her body looked like it was carved by God himself (pfft, yeah _right. _Her twin's face was basically an angel's) This change in her body earned her some admirers at school. Karin don't appreciate male admirers. She wants to pass school with ease without all the drama. Karin considered herself normal. She wasn't ugly but she wasn't pretty either. So the attention she got in her classroom kinda makes her uncomfortable. The black-haired maiden sighed and tucked her shirt down to cover up her stomach.

"Oi, guys. Get up before I kick your asses." She narrowed her eyes at her friend (who was still laying on the ground, twitching like some kind of fried worm). She searched for her coach, only to found that he left. Karin stepped on Ryohei's back, which earned her a grunt from the blonde, "I said, _get up. _You've seen me change plenty of times so stop acting like some kind of mindless zombies." Ryohei chuckled under her foot before rolling over with a big grin stuck on his face. Kazuya slowly got up and laughed. The others started to join him as they wiped their bloody noses. A smile broke into Karin's feature. Heita was now howling with laughter,

"D-did you see his f-face?" Donny let out a loud snort, "It was like..." he made a face which caused Karin to chuckle. Ryohei wiped a tear away from his eyes,

"You know what, Kurosaki?" Karin turned her head to face her friend with a quizzical look, "You should've said _boobs." _The young girl grabbed her water bottle and threw it at the blonde -who caught it with ease.

"Perverts."

Kazuya wiped his glasses with the edge of his shirt, "Shall we get started then?" The boys nodded enthusiastically before turning to their captain (their actual captain never come to Soccer practice. So they basically pretend that Karin's the leader of the team) Karin smirked,

"Okay, listen up guys! I know you're all tired from the crap coach made you do, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you." The team groaned and was about to argue, but Karin lifted her hand up, stopping them in their tracks, "I _promise, _we'll get ice cream from Ringo's after this. My treat." The boys cheered and pumped their fists in the air, causing the black-haired girl to smile. Kazuya clapped his hands, grabbing the attention of their team,

"Now come on! Let's move our asses for the ice cream!"

And that was how their training session started.

* * *

Yuzu hummed happily as she sifted the icing sugar on top of the glossy apple and cinnamon cake. _'Karin-chan is going to love it,' _the thought of Karin coming back home and then drooling over her cake made the brunette sighed lovingly. Her twin had always loved cake. Especially their mum's one. Yuzu put the sifter down and washed her hands, _'I wonder if Karin-chan still wants to be a model...' _Believe it or not, Yuzu always knew that the so-called Tomboy wanted to be a model. When they were kids, her twin loved being in photos. Their photo albums mainly consists of Karin's pictures when she was still young. _'It's a shame that Karin-chan refuses to wear dresses now...' _The motherly Kurosaki slowly walked upstairs and into her bedroom. What greeted her when she opened the door was a pair of giant assets and someone squealing happily. One name suddenly popped up in her head.

Matsumoto.

"_Yuzu-chan! _I haven't seen you in _ages!"_

The strawberry blonde continued to hug her as the younger girl struggled for oxygen. Yuzu waved her arms in the air, motioning the older woman to release her. Matsumoto reluctantly let go and smiled sheepishly, "Um... Oops?" Yuzu quickly took a big gulp of air, thankful to be freed from her friend's death hug. The Shinigami eyed the girl carefully before speaking, "Where's Karin-chan?"

Yuzu looked up at the vice-captain before answering, "Karin-chan is at Soccer practice," the brunette checked her purple watch on her wrist, "although, she _should've _finished by now..." at the sound of this, Matsumoto let out a squeal and started to clap her hands together. The young Kurosaki stared at the woman quizzically. Matsumoto, noticing the young girl's face, managed to calm herself down and spoke,

"Taichō told me that he was going to visit Karin-chan. So... Where do you think they are now?" the Shinigami wriggled her eyebrows suggestively, "Karin-chan should've arrived home by now and Taichō said that he'll visit her..." the older woman paused and looked at Yuzu. What she saw was a look of more confusion on the girl's face. Matsumoto gave up and whispered her point to the young female. Yuzu's eyes went from shock to happiness. By the time Matsumoto finished, the brunette was jumping in glee.

"I can't believe it!" Yuzu grabbed the older woman's hand and started to spin around, "Karin-chan and Hitsugaya-san are finally _dating!" _Matsumoto laughed at the Kurosaki's over-joyous mood. She looked around the small room before spotting an old green book on Yuzu's white desk. She stopped spinning, causing the young girl to crash on the floor. Not noticing her friend's cry of surprise, the strawberry-blonde made her way to the desk and gently got hold of the book. From Yuzu's position on the floor, she could see her friend's curious look as she stared at the green cover. She plopped up on one elbow, a warm smile plastered on her face. Matsumoto went over to the floor and sat next to the young girl before opening the first page. She gasped in surprise before tilting the book so her friend could see. She gingerly brushed her fingers across the plastic cover,

"This is..."

Yuzu finally sat up and took the photo out of the cover, "This is Karin-chan and me on our 8th birthday," she laughed softly and stroked the edge of the paper, "she's cute isn't she? That was the day before she decided to stop wearing dresses..." Yuzu frowned and handed the photo to Matsumoto -who handled the precious item with care. The Shinigami stared at the young twins' smiling faces. They were both wearing dresses. Yuzu's one was a simple soft pink dress with a white ribbon tied around the waist. She was holding a silver fairy wand and a matching tiara on her head. Karin's one was a plain sky-blue coloured dress with three white roses on the side waist. She had a blue angel-like halo tied around her small head with a ribbon on the left side. Both of their eyes were shining in happiness as if that day was the best day they have ever had in their entire life. Matsumoto glanced at Yuzu's saddening eyes before whispering her question,

"What happened..?"

Yuzu sighed and shook her head, "I don't know, she just... Decided that she doesn't like them and won't wear them. _Ever." _

Matsumoto put a finger on her chin, "Well, something _must've _happened." she went through the thick book. There were dried leaves and flowers, candy wrappers, bird feathers -and of course, photos."Even _I _know that Karin-chan wouldn't..." her speech was cut off when she spotted a photo of her Taichō and Yuzu's twin sitting in front of a café drinking what looked like chocolate-chip milkshakes. The Shinigami's eyes popped out of their sockets as she stared at the white-haired boy's smiling face and Karin's laughing one, "Holy shit!" she rubbed her eyes to make sure that what she saw _wasn't _a hallucination, "Is this a dream come true?" Yuzu's soft laugh filled the whole bedroom as her friend started to cry happy tears. Immediately, Matsumoto grabbed Yuzu's shoulders and stuck her face in front of the shock teen's one, "Where did you find this?"

"Three weeks ago," Yuzu answered casually, "They go to a place called _Ringo's _every Saturday for some kind of 'catching-up-time'" she flipped over some pages and pointed at a ripped piece of paper, Matsumoto figured that it was a ticket pass, "They also do performances... See?" she took a small photo out of a plastic cover and showed Matsumoto a picture of Karin and Tōshirō playing a duet on the piano. "They get paid, but most time play for free ice cream or spare table."

"Taichō can play the piano?" asked Matsumoto.

Yuzu nodded,

"Hitsugaya-san comes over once a week to play with Karin-chan," she suddenly shuddered, "there was a time when he missed practice and got beat up by Karin... It wasn't pretty,"

A light bulb popped out on top of the strawberry-blonde's head. She turned towards her friend, who was babbling about Tōshirō being whipped by her twin, and spoke, "Yuzu?"

The brunette stopped her speech in mid-sentence and looked at the older woman, "Yeah?"

"Do you think that Taichō came because he wanted to practice with Karin-chan?"

"... Maybe, I'm not sure," she walked up to a pink calendar and checked the date, "well, it _is _Saturday... And they usually practice on this day-"

"What time does he normally come?" Matsumoto interrupted,

"Eleven o'clock, two hours before lunch,"

"Do they wear _costumes?"_

"They only wear matching clothes, nothing special."

"What time does he and Karin-chan go to Ringo's?"

"Around four-thirty..." Yuzu was starting to get confused, why was her friend asking so many questions? Matsumoto continued on speaking,

"What time is it _now?" _she desperately looked at the young girl. Yuzu was slightly taken back by Matsumoto's action but answered anyway,

"Eight forty-five, why?"

"We have around seven hours to complete my Master Plan!" she punched the air for effect. The brunette was startled, and started to panic. Matsumoto's 'Master Plan' never end up successful. It brought doom to her and Rukia more time than she could count! Yuzu quickly grabbed her friend's arm, stopping her from running out the door -or making a Matsumoto's body hole in the wall.

"W-wait! What _is _the 'Master Plan'?"

Matsumoto turned and gave the girl a wink,

"Photo Shoot,"

"P-photo sho-"

The Shinigami took a piece of crumpled paper and pen out of her gigantic assets. Quickly jotting down the title 'Photo Shoot' in katakana and the steps to successfully -not- complete her oh-so glorious plan. Yuzu peeked over Matsumoto's arm and read it carefully. It said:

1. Make dress and vest (colour should be red and black to make them look super hot). Dress should be above the knee, hugging the body to show Karin's curves and vest should be tight so Taichō's body out-line can be seen.

shoes that are black.

3. Make up should be light (since Karin would be pissed when we apply it)

4. Pick a blue and aquamarine background for the shoot.

5. Force them to wear the costumes.

6. Apply make up and curl Karin-chan's hair.

7. Take photo.

8. Use Photo-shop to edit little details.

9. Print out a dozen copies to give and sell.

10. Master Plan is done.

"There!" Matsumoto proudly held up the written plan, "This'll be a piece of cake!" Yuzu slowly let the entire thing sink in. It's actually a good plan. If it's successful, she can have a giant poster of her twin and her future-brother-in-law and hang it next to her mother's one. Matsumoto grinned and jerked her thumb towards herself, "Good thing I'm a professional photographer!" sighing dreamily about her plan, she pointed her pointing finger at Yuzu's direction, "Yuzu!" the said girl snapped her head up, "Will you kindly do the honour of being my clothes-making girl?" the brunette eyes twinkled brightly at the thought of making dresses for her twin. She nodded excitedly and ran out the door to get her sewing kit. Matsumoto beamed at her friend's action before scanning her to-do list. Yuzu's currently doing step one (she trusted her friend's sense of fashion) and won't be needing her help, so... The Shinigami woman grinned, _this _time had finally come...

**Shopping Time.**

With an excited squeal, she wrote a quick note to Yuzu about her destination before jumping out the window.

_'I'm sorry, Taichō. But I'm saving your love-life and it's a sudden emergency.' _

She only prayed that her ice-cold captain will thank her afterwards.

* * *

**GASP! How did I do? Like it? Hate it? NEUTRAL FEELING? Please tell me! And also, I might update this story a little late since I'm behind in school work (yay). Hope you guys liked it :-)**

**Good bye!****  
**

**~ Stelza-chan**


	2. Chapter 2: Camera Flash and Lovebirds

**Well hello again all! It's been a long time since I've seen you guys :D I decided to update this fic and finished it about a month ago. Since I thought that it would be a nice treat for all of my followers. **

**If you're wondering why I didn't publish it that early, it's because I hadn't had time to do so D: And I am pretty sad. I've missed out on so much stuff here on ! I didn't even get to read most of the stories hat I follow here because of Duke's and Band and he normal school work. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you guys that I am in year nine now! Yay! Pretty exciting since I'm part of the Symphonic Band now and I'm participating in the Duke of Edinburgh. :D But anyway, enough of my rambling and let's get on with the last and final chapter of Photo Shoot!**

**Enjoy~**

**By the way: Bleach is -of course- not owned by me.**

**Photo Shoot**

"I want chocolate!"

"Can I get a vanilla cone?"

Karin sighed in annoyance as her teammates continued on yelling. They were currently at _Ringo's, _ordering the many ice cream she promised them at training before hand. Some of the customers eyed them in disgust (she couldn't blame them though, who would want to be squished with 17 smelly boys?), the old ones smiled politely while the teenage girls hunted for their prey (which she _doubted _would find)_. _

"Captain!"

The girl turned and raised an eyebrow, "What?" she paused before adding, "I'm not your captain."

A tall boy with curly blonde hair made his way towards her and grabbed her wrist. He had a serious look. Karin's eyes widened, _'It couldn't be...' _she patted the boy's shoulder, signalling him to let go. She said a quick "Thank you," before marching to the front, the goalie close behind. When her teammates saw her approaching, they parted like the red sea. The noisy café turned silent. The tomboy motioned for a ball. There were shuffling of feet and zippers being opened before Kazuya presented her with the holy item. Karin grabbed it and threw it up in the air before catching it. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, "So..." she started, "who was it?". She threw the ball again and caught it with ease. No one moved. She slammed the ball on the floor, causing many people to jump in surprise before she stepped on it, "Who was the _asshole _that asked for a _DOUBLE-SCOOP?" _she yelled.

Now, you must understand. Getting a double-scoop ice cream was seen as a crime when your leader was giving it to you for free. In the KMSS (Karakura Middle School Sabers) team, they have a rule book which contained basic rules for soccer and team respect. Recently, when the new captain was nominated, they added a new rule.

_"One should never get a double-scoop when they are given free ice cream by their leader." _(pg. 1, paragraph 2 -right under _Respect all team members-_)

Why did they make this rule? Simple. It was the duty for a captain to take care of their team. A simple gesture of buying treats after practice was seen as an act of responsibility for the leaders of the Sabers. But, because they were only in Middle School, money didn't come very smoothly. That was why, my friend, the rule of _No double-scoop _was made.

Now back to the story.

Someone squeaked in the front of the line before attempting to make a quick get-away. Karin waited for him to open the door before doing her famous _Hunter's Kick. _The poor boy fell on the ground outside and stayed still. The girls (mostly in the cheering-squad) eyed the tomboy cautiously as she cracked her neck. Karin gave them a look and they shielded away. She turned towards her friend,

"Kazuya, who is he?"

The said boy opened up his notebook and scanned through the pages,

"Li Toya." he pushed up his glasses, "Age 15, class B, has been a member for less than a year, two strikes." The vice-captain sighed and waved her friends away before walking towards the door. Her teammates continued to order as she pushed the glass door open. Swooping the soccer ball from the ground, she also grabbed the back of the boy's collar, forcing him to stand up. Karin dragged him to a near bench and told him to sit, before joining him.

"I really hate doing these kind of thing but..." The tomboy smacked Toya's head, "I need to give you a lecture about the rules in the KMSS!" The boy groaned and hung his head, already going through this kind of talk two times before in his life. "First rule!"

When Karin came back to Ringo's to pay for the ice cream, she found Ryohei, Donny and Heita talking (or was it _flirting?) _with some of the girls from the swimming team. She ignored them and made her way to the front counter.

"Ringo-san, I'm here to pay."

The man smiled back in return before looking over his note book.

"Okay, let's see..." he peeked over the counter to see Karin grinning. Michael Ringo chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Come on," he said, "spill it." Karin bit her lips and shook her head no. He gave up and continued on counting the price. "Two strawberries, four chocolate-chips, one lemon, one vanilla, five mint, two cookies 'n' cream and one banana." Karin stared at him,

"How about the double-scoop?"

Michael dismissed the question and instead told her the amount of money she needed to pay. She took out the money from her short pocket and handed it to him. Karin turned her head to face the stage, right at the back corner of the café. The grand piano stood proudly in it's rightful place. She've seen this sight practically everyday -but there was something different... The shop owner saw the teenager's face and chuckled.

"The mic was added last night."

Karin turned and raised an eyebrow, "May I ask why?"

The old man smirked, "I want you to sing for us tonight." he said simply. The black-haired girl's jaw dropped.

_'S-sing?!' _Her mind practically screamed out '**Hell no.**' "U-uh, Ringo-san..." The black-haired girl fidgeted with her fingers. The man smiled down at her, thinking that the girl was nervous about singing in front of the regular Saturday customers.

Oh, how wrong he was...

She slammed her hands on the counter, making the rear customers jolt in surprise, "I don't have anything to perform!" Her eyes were panicking, and looked almost angry. The man just blinked. "Ringo-san!" her tone sounded whiney and childish. "Why didn't you tell me this yesterday!" She paced around, thinking hard about the performance. Sure she could just said no and decline it... But this was _Ringo's._ You can't just say 'pass' for the free ice-cream. Especially when it's the Special Saturday Menu...

Somehow the man felt bad for passing the information to her at the last minute. So he sighed and decided to cancel the singing performance. "Karin... You don't have to-" But before he could finish, Karin snapped her fingers, declaring that she had an idea.

"Tōshirō!"

She grabbed her bag and quickly ran out the double door. Michael stared in shock but quickly recovered and called out about her change.

_"Just keep it for the double-scoop!"_

When the Summer Pear arrived home, she found her piano partner sleeping on the couch. Seeing her chance of blackmail, she took out her iPhone and tapped on the camera app. After a minute or so, she dropped it back into her bag and went upstairs to get changed. She'll tell him about the news later after he wakes up.

What she saw behind the closed door made her yelp. Strings of red ribbon were twirling around the room, black and red cotton fabric were basically covering 1/4 of the floorboard, a red shirt and a matching black waistcoat hung on a hook, red coloured threads was littering the floor... It looked like a fashion studio in here!

"Whoa, Yuzu." she stepped around crumpled papers and walked towards her sister (who was deeply concentrating on cutting a fabric). "I know you want to become a fashion designer -but can't you wait around 8 more years?" Yuzu obviously didn't hear her since she continued on cutting. Karin's left eye twitched, "Oi..." still no response, "Yuzu!" the said girl jumped up in surprise and cried in shock when she found her sister glaring at her.

"Karin-chan!" her sweaty hands grabbed the fabric and hid it behind her, "Welcome back!" she said nervously.

The tomboy narrowed her eyes, "What the hell happened here?" she paused, "And why is Tōshirō sleeping on the couch?"

The brunette licked her lips and started to stutter, "W-well you see... I'm just trying to... Well Tōshirō asked for some tea and I... Not _necessarily _put anything-"

Karin dropped her bag in shock, "You _poisoned _his tea?"

"What?! No!" the bright twin cried out, "I would never poison him!" a pause. "Well, I put a _tiny bit _of Dad's sleeping antidote..."

The youngest Kurosaki gasped, "Yuzu!"

Just then, Matsumoto burst inside the window with expensive looking shopping bags in her hands. Seeing Karin's angry face and Yuzu's sheepish one, she could tell what had happened. Outwardly groaning for the lecture she was going to get, she dropped the bags on the floor. Then, she remembered something.

"The dress!"

Yuzu seemed to remember it as well since she quickly pushed the confused (and pissed off) Karin towards the door. The black-haired teen dug her heels in the floorboard, stubbornly refusing to leave.

"What the hell is going on here, Matsumoto? What _fucking _dress are you talking about?!"

The Shinigami opened the door and Yuzu (Karin didn't know _where _she got the strength) practically _threw _her twin out of the room before quickly locking the door.

_"It's a surprise!" _Matsumoto said from the other side.

"Yuzu! Matsumoto!" Karin banged her fists on the door, "Open the freaking door!" there were sounds of chairs scraping on the wooden floor and ridiculous amount of giggling. The tomboy scowled. '_Oh, they're up to something alright,' _She sighed in defeat and proceeded on walking downstairs to check on her music partner, _'something bad...' _Checking her watch, she decided that there was enough time to take a quick shower. The Summer Pear jogged up the steps and locked herself in the bathroom.

Not knowing that her idea would give Matsumoto's Master Plan a boost.

Tōshirō's eyes slowly opened. He instantly groaned when the bright light hit his eyes.

_I was wondering when you'll be getting up, Master. _The ice-dragon uncurled himself and purred. _I didn't know that human antidote works on a faux body._

The Shinigami captain rolled his eyes, _'What an idiotic statement,' _he thought. Hyōrinmaru growled, reminding his wielder that he could hear his thoughts. The white teacup suddenly caught his eyes. He eyed it cautiously as it innocently sat on the table. He quickly grabbed it and made his way to the kitchen, splashing the content in the sink. _'I'm sorry Kurosaki-san. But I do not favour in having to be poisoned with something that I enjoy.'_ The Shinigami then washed the cup, and walked over to the piano, where he played a basic chord.

_Master... _Hyōrinmaru peeked his head out of his iced-cave, _when will you tell Kurosaki about your feelings?_

Tōshirō instantly stopped, his fingers lifting themselves off the keys and to his lap.

_'I don't know...' _He sighed, "She might not like me... The way I like her."

The ancient dragon clicked his tongue, _Child... You must-_

_"MATSUMOTO!" _

The white-haired teen quickly ran upstairs at the sound of his friend's voice. Skidding to a halt in front of the bathroom, he noticed that the area was awfully silent. He waited.

"_Fucking get off me!" _A crash soon followed by Matsumoto's girlish scream. _"Matsumoto! Get-" _Something ripped inside the room, causing the boy to cringe. It was... It was like a zoo in there...

He brought his hand up and knocked, though he doubted anyone would hear him.

_"Tōshirō, is that you?!"_

Guessed he was wrong.

"Y-yes, it's me." He furrowed his eyebrows, "What's going on in there, Kurosaki?"

Crash. Scream.

_"Get in here and help me if you want to know! Matsumoto! I swear-"_

The taichō pushed open the door, surprising himself that it wasn't locked. But then again, his friend _did _tell him to come in. He shut the door and turned his body around.

The sight in front of him was definitely _not _what he was expecting.

Karin, clad only in a towel, was struggling in Matsumoto's iron grip. She noticed him gawking and scowled. "What are you doing there just staring at-" She stopped. Her head looked down as realisation dawned upon her. The towel that she was wearing was starting to slip off. A deep red blush quickly dusted her cheeks.

Tōshirō's face was also starting to reddened. He didn't know if it was because of the extremely hot climate in the small bathroom or because of the female teenager in front of him that had a towel slipping off her body. Either way, he fainted and hit his head on the door. Causing a sickening crack to echo throughout the tiled room.

Once again, Tōshirō woke up with the light painfully hitting his eyes. He groaned.

_Master... _Hyōrinmaru's red eyes scanned his surroundings, _Your fukutaichō-_

"Yuzu!" a sing-song voice was heard near his right, "Taichō finally woke up." The boy snapped his head at his subordinates, growling in anger. He tried to move his arms.

Key word: _**tried.**_

The smirk on Matsumoto's face made the boy shrunk two times his original size. The woman had him all tied up! And with Urahara's strong bind as well...

That bastard.

"Matsumoto," another growl escaped his lips when he found his bravery again, "untie me. _Now."_ The busty woman only giggled and skipped away, leaving the boy alone and frustrated.

_Shit._

"How's Karin-chan's makeup?"

Tōshirō's head turned towards Matsumoto as she took a black top-hat from -what Tōshirō assumed to be- the dressing table.

"Anoo, I don't know about the eyeshadow..." the brunette scanned the white coloured palette in her hand, "Matsumoto-san, what do you think?"

The taichō's eyes narrowed suspiciously as his vice-captain tilted and fingered Karin's face. _'Is she even conscious?' _

"Oi," the all-to-familiar voice of Karin finally spoke out, "stop touching me like an animal."

"Karin?"

So she _was _awake!

The raven-haired girl turned her head, "Oh! Shorty!"

The nick-name somehow hurt his pride. But he ignored it. Instead he looked up, "It's a surprise that you're not fighting my idiotic-" A glare from Matsumoto, -"fukutaichō." He blew his fringe away from his face, "I thought you didn't like makeup."

The girl looked away as Matsumoto tilted her head up, applying some natural looking eyeshadow. "Don't get me wrong pretty-boy, I still don't like them." She blinked a couple of times before sighing, "But if I don't comply, they'll blackmail me."

Tōshirō's eyebrows rose, "Blackmail?"

"Stop speaking for a minute, Karin-chan." Yuzu applied some peach-coloured lipgloss on her twin's lips. "Matsumoto-san, what do you think?" Said woman studied her model's face for a short while before mentioning for the blush.

While they waited for Yuzu to retrieve the item, Karin explained that the Duo were planning to show everybody their photo at Ringo's -Tōshirō figured out that it was probably the milkshake one- and claimed that they were a couple.

"... I mean, if they assumed that we were dating, it would totally ruin my reputation." Karin laughed, not knowing that Tōshirō's feelings were being abused by her words. "Besides," she continued on, "we're just friends."

_Just friends..._

Silence.

"Do you really think that we can't be a couple..?"

Three heads turned towards his direction, but he avoided any eye contact. The captain's action made Karin squirm uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't know what to say. She silently pleaded to Yuzu for help, but was ignored. The Summer Pear returned her vision to the Shinigami Captain. She decided, the best way to handle this was by laughing it off. But, the words that left her mouth didn't actually fall into that category...

"Why are you taking it so seriously?" her eyes narrowed before she quietly sighed. "You don't even like me anyway..." her mumbled words didn't quite reach Tōshirō's ears, but he picked up on the "don't even like me" part. The two friends then proceeded to stay mute and avoided any further conversation.

Matsumoto felt the need to break the tension so she finally decided to continue on her work. She made Karin face the mirror as her hand placed the top hat on her curled hair. Taking a step back, she beamed and admired her work.

"Done."

As soon as the word left her mouth, the youngest Kurosaki stood up and stormed out of the room. She was embarrassed and confused. Her feet took her to her beloved piano and she sat down on the chair, crossing her arms as she tried to figure out what had happened in the room before.

Okay.

So she told Tōshirō about the blackmail, nothing to be mad about. And then she told him that them being a couple would ruin her reputation. No biggie. _'...Right?'_ why was she doubting herself? Of course it wasn't a problem! The taichō was just over reacting... She stopped. Again, she doubted herself. Maybe his pride was hurt, she tried to reassure her brain, nothing else...

_'Besides...' _her arms dropped and rested on her side, _'He doesn't like me anyway...' _Her eyes scanned over the black and white keys. She placed her hands on top, and pressed middle C. The sound echoed in the room. Karin shook her head to clear away the depressing and -not to mention- _girlish _thoughts.

Oh how she hated teenage drama.

Wait a moment...

The teen scratched her head. _'Am I forgetting something important...?'_

When Matsumoto finally finished unbuttoning -yes, she _unbuttoned- _the top two buttons of his shirt, he was finally able to go. He checked his wrist watch. Only four hours left before they would make their way to Ringo's. The boy sighed. _'I hope that we'll be able to practice normally...'_

Truth to be told, he was nervous about practicing with the black-haired Kurosaki. After what he said, it would be so _awkward _to talk -or even see- and play with each other. He managed to mask his feelings form the tomboy in their small encounter this morning -how did it slip so easily?

_'Hyōrinmaru, why am I such an idiot?'_

_You're still young, _the dragon said wisely, _You have much to learn about the world, boy._

He made his way to the piano, where his partner was already seated and playing. The tune caught his ears. He grabbed a nearby chair and sat down, eyeing Karin in fascination.

"I didn't know you could play Jazz,"

"Then you don't know many things about me." she snapped.

Ouch.

Tōshirō racked his brain for anything, _anything, _to try and lighten up the Kurosaki girl.

**Blank.**

_You should apologise, _the dragon suggested, _For taking her words so seriously._

He did.

... Kind of.

"Kurosaki, about the 'couple' thing before..." he rubbed his wrist, "S-sorry."

Karin stopped playing. One of her hand still stayed on the keys, but her body was now facing Tōshirō. Grey met Aquamarine. "Why," she started, "why did you take it so seriously?"

_'Because I like you.'_ "I..." he tried to think of a reason, "I... I don't know..." He hung his head in shame.

_Tell her the truth, _Hyōrinmaru persisted, _tell her you like her._

"Is it because you like me?" The question was a surprise to both the sword and the wielder. But the taichō felt something off about her use of tone. His suspicion was clarified when the human teenager laughed bitterly, "As if someone like you would want to date me..." She tilted her head and smiled sadly. Silence sat in between the two.

Awkward and uncomfortable.

Karin sighed and decided to break it. "You know what, let's just forget about it." she went over smacked his head, causing the boy to yelped in surprise, "It's gone now." She beamed at him, but Tōshirō could detect a small crack. He rubbed the sore spot and huffed.

_'She can't fool me...'_

The Shinigami saw a change in Karin's facial expression -like she just remembered something important.

"Oh, _shit."_

Aha, so he was right.

The girl grabbed his shoulders and began to squeeze them painfully. The look in her grey eyes displayed one of panic.

"Ringo-san wanted me -well, us actually- to sing for-"

Unfortunately for the both of them, before she could finish her sentence, Matsumoto snatched Karin away from him and dragged her to the kitchen. A small tick mark appeared on the boy's forehead. "Matsumoto, couldn't you see that we were-"

"You must be hungry, Karin-chan! Have some sandwich!" Before the teenager could protest, the busty woman shoved a tuna sandwich in her mouth, forcing her to chew and swallow. "Isn't it good?" Yuzu stood next to her partner, smiling sweetly at her twin.

"Karin-chan! I made a special cake just for you!"

"Wha-"

And again, Matsumoto shoved food down her throat.

"Now!" Matsumoto tightened her grip on the traumatised girl, "Time for the Photo Shoot!"

Both Karin's and Tōshirō's eyes bulged out of their sockets. Their minds were also screaming out the same question:

**What fucking Photo Shoot?**

"And off we go~"

The bedroom was completely remodelled. Tōshirō wondered how they managed to turn the room from a makeup studio, to a photo studio in such a short period of time. Not to mention, he eyed the equipments suspiciously, where they got all these things from. To confirm it, the captain checked his Credit Card balance on his phone. Sure enough, the amount of money dropped drastically over the past three hours. Oh how he wondered who had used it...

"Okay you two," Karin had finally broke free from Matsumoto's grip, "_no one_ told me _anything _about a stupid photo shoot." She glared at the Duo, even directing it to the Shinigami captain as well -who put up his hands and shook his head in the _I'm-the-victim-here-too_ way. Yuzu nervously laughed and twirled her finger around her hair.

"W-well... We thought that it would've been a good surprise."

She was obviously lying. Karin knew it.

"Listen guys, I actually _really_ need to tell Tōshirō something _important._ So-"

"Enough chit-chat and let's get shooting!" The busty woman practically sing-songed as she threw the piano partners in front of the background drop. The Shinigami balanced Karin on her feet after she recovered from tripping over a thick cable.

When everything was ready. Matsumoto gave them a thumbs up, signalling them to pose for the camera. Yuzu put on some music from her iPod, letting it blast through the stereo.

Karin sighed in irritation and face-palmed. Tōshirō, on the other hand, founded this whole thing to be amusing. The human teenager dragged her hand down her face, finally revealing her famous scowl. "Hey Tōshirō," her face showed clear annoyance, "after we're done with this shit. I need to tell you something important." She flicked her hair over her shoulder and cracked her neck, "So let's get this over and done with, really _fast._"

Matsumoto beamed happily, she had _dreamed _about doing this for a very long time. And now.. It finally came true, "Give me something sexy!" she directed, obviously to eager in seeing her favourite couple doing something so... Well, not _typical _of them.

Tōshirō was greatly surprised when Karin complied, pulling on his waistcoat to bring them closer. _Much _more closer... Not that he was complaining. The teenager tilted her head back and gave the camera a -very- sexy look, completing the pose by parting her glossy lips. The captain had got to admit, _she was __**good.**_

The dragon smirked, _I'm guessing that you're enjoying this a bit __**too much,**__ Master? _The white-haired teen smirked and in contrast to Karin, tilted his head down; hiding the left side of his face. He also gave the camera a _sexy _look.

_'You guessed right.'_

The lights flashed and the camera clicked four times.

"Okay! Now give me something a bit more... Dangerous..."

The couple changed their pose and Matsumoto clicked away in excitement.

After a few minutes of _sexy, dangerous, suggestive_ and themes that were along those lines, Yuzu suggested that they do individual shots. Karin was first to go up. The brunette gave her a big black fan, which the model raised her eyebrows at.

"Do something with it!" The older twin practically ordered her sister. Without any further questions, the black-haired girl took it and stood in the the middle of the set. She raised her leg like a flamingo and slowly leaned forward, where she brought the fan half-way up her face.

A flash and two snapshots.

"Karin-chan! Turn your body away from the camera, but show us your face," Matsumoto took the camera to a low angle and waited for the model to finish her pose. As the woman pressed on the button, Karin rolled her head back, letting some kind of movement enter the photo. She made the picture come alive.

Tōshirō studied his friend from the sideline, not knowing what else to do. He stared at her every movement, silently commenting on her skills. He watched as Karin was given another item (a black ribbon) in exchange for the fan. With this, she wrapped it around her arm and held the end with her other hand, making the simple ribbon look like a snake.

After a few more flashes and poses, Tōshirō was ordered to get up and get ready. He frowned at his subordinate's bossiness, but didn't bother to say anything. After all, this wasn't his strongest point and Matsumoto was in charge. As much as he hated to admit it...

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Like Karin, Tōshirō was also given an item to pose with. "Here you go!" the bright twin handed the captain a maroon-coloured umbrella. "Good luck."

He went over to the middle of the set and waited for Matsumoto's instructions. But she only gave him a thumbs up. He blinked at the camera, not knowing what to do.

_Just do anything, _the dragon sat up and huffed, _I think that she's giving you a 'free' shot._

Oh.

The taichō opened the umbrella and rested it on his shoulder. He tilted his head down and brought a finger to his lips before winking at the camera.

The flash blinded him momentarily, but he tried his best to stay still. Three clicks.

"Taichō! Close the umbrella and twirl the tip on the ground!"

On the other hand, Karin was sitting down on a chair -watching her piano partner eye-fucking the camera- and fighting a blush that was starting to coat her cheeks. Her twin saw her and stifled a giggle. The tomboy shot her a look, but was ignored. She continued to stare at the Shinigami. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to be so... _Attractive._

Tōshirō made a quick eye contact with his friend, but both quickly looked away in embarrassment.

"Yuzu-chan! Take the umbrella away and give him something... _Unusual."_

What Matsumoto meant by 'unusual' was a champagne bottle.

He eyed the bottle curiously. _'What the hell am I supposed to do with alcohol?'_

_Drink it._

_'Shut up.' _He growled at his dragon for being such a smart-ass. Then, an idea hit him. He brought the neck of the bottle towards his lip and began to nibble. A loud squeal escaped Matsumoto's lips as she began snapping madly, changing angles when necessary.

Karin could only gawk. She didn't stop the inappropriate thoughts from entering her mind (really, who could blame her?). One word could only describe her friend right now:

_Seductive._

She blamed it on her hormones.

Matsumoto wiped away the beads of sweat that were forming on her forehead. Yuzu went over and gave her a glass of apple juice -with a hint of honey. The older woman took the glass gratefully and drunk it all in one gulp. The gentle teenager then smiled before walking towards her computer, scanning over the photos whilst grinning like an idiot at some of the shots.

Matsumoto let the two piano players have a break, which they gladly accepted. As the Duo discussed the photos, Karin and Tōshirō sat next to each other, an awkward silence settled in between them as they try to think up a conversation.

"So," the tomboy drawled, "wasn't that fun?"

The Shinigami only nodded before settling in to silence again. Karin drummed her fingers on her thighs, she stole a glance at the captain. After his little _champagne show,_ she couldn't help but secretly watched him for any other _sexy _moves... The girl mentally slapped her self for thinking of such foolish things.

Tōshirō on the other hand, was trying to mask his emotions from the teenage girl beside him. He couldn't lie, he did the little act with the champagne to try and seduce his friend. He could feel _her eyes_ watching him, as he moved his mouth across the bottle... Hyōrinmaru seemed to find his master's situation to be quite amusing. After all, it's not everyday that he could see the stoic and reserved boy trying to impress a young girl... A _human_ girl, as a matter of fact, which happened to be Kurosaki Ichigo's youngest sister. The dragon chuckled.

_Teenage hormones... _He smirked. _What a wonderful thing to have at such a young age._

After a short discussion with Yuzu, Matsumoto finally decided to do another couple shot. She stretched out her aching limbs, like a cat, before sighing.

"I never knew that taking photos would be so tiring," she leaned on the shorter female and grinned, "But it's _so _worth it!"

Yuzu's face brightened, and the two women gave each other a high-five. Matsumoto then got up to prepare another session, mentally calculating the amount of money she had used to prepare her Master Plan and comparing it to the amount she was going to earn by selling the pictures of the Piano couple.

The motherly Kurosaki went over to where the models were sitting and asked them to get ready for another shoot. Karin groaned and threw her head back,

"How many photos are you going to take?" she basically whined like a small child, "Such a waste of energy..."

"Come one Karin-chan, it's not that bad!" the other twin smiled brightly, "Even Hitsugaya-san thinks so too, right?"

"U-uh, I suppose you're right..." he answered, unsure.

Karin threw him a disbelieving look, "Which side are you on?!"

"Come on, people! The camera is waiting!"

Again, the piano players found themselves standing in the middle of the set, waiting for the woman's instructions. Matsumoto eyed them, thinking about the next 'theme'. They've already done the poses that were alluring and sexy (fit for Karin's age group, of course -the busty woman wouldn't want Ichigo whipping her ass for doing something 'bad' to his baby sister...). Yuzu seemed to sense her friend's frustration. She smiled and pitched in her idea.

"How about something light and cutesy to end the session?" she suggested, "After all, I do want to see Karin-chan pose in a kawaii manner." Her eyes were twinkling with hope. Karin cringed. The look in her sister's eyes... It would put even the brightest star to shame. She heard Tōshirō gulped nervously as a mischievous smile slowly crept up the photographer's face. One word entered her mind.

Shit.

Matsumoto gave the brunette a thumbs up for her _brilliant _suggestion. "Then it's settled!" she turned towards the couple with such happiness that the air around her seemed to light up, "Karin-chan, I want you to grab taichō's arm and cutely pout up at him."

Karin gave the woman an _are-you-fucking-with-me _look before turning towards her friend, waiting for him to response.

"Taichō! I want you to pinch her nose and smirk towards the camera, like you're planning something cheeky."

"Now wait a minute here-" Karin started but was pulled in an embrace by her friend. She stood there in shock, her mouth moving to try and produce any sort of protest, but nothing came out. What stopped her was the feeling of Tōshirō's hot breath against her ear.

_"Just enjoy it," _he whispered, before pulling away. She narrowed her eyes but finally sighed, following after his words. He lightly pinched her nose as she grabbed his arm, pulling him against her as she pout up cutely.

The flash went off and Matsumoto's lucky camera snapped away.

The two then changed their poses without waiting for the woman's instruction. Karin currently had both hands on her hips, leaning her face towards Tōshirō as he lovingly kissed her cheek.

Both of them were fighting a blush that were slowly creeping up their faces.

Matsumoto didn't seemed to mind and continued to snap pictures with her camera. After a few shots, the photographer motioned for them to change their position. This time, the tomboy was the one that had to kiss him. He leaned down with his hands behind his back, directing his eyes to the right corner of the room. Even with the Shinigami captain leaning down, the black-haired girl still needed to go on her tip-toes. She brought one of her leg up, like the typical romantic kiss pose.

Yuzu's inner fangirl seemed to have clawed it self out since she also started to take pictures with her phone.

"Okay my little kittens! Last shot!" The fukutaichō zoomed in her camera towards the best friends' faces, "Wink!"

Karin and Tōshirō unconsciously leaned their heads closer towards each other. The tomboy brought her hand on top of her head, like a good-bye solute, before winking along with the Shinigami captain. The last flash of the day went off, quickly followed by the clicks of the camera.

Yuzu clapped and congratulated them -were those happy tears Karin spotted in her twin's eyes? "That was wonderful Karin-chan!" she squealed and embraced her sister in a tight hug, "You're such an amazing model!" The black-haired twin could only awkwardly patted the back of the brunette.

"Thanks, Yuzu..."

The two pulled away and Yuzu checked her watch. "Oh look," she showed Karin the time, "right on time! We can go to Ringo's now-"

Karin's eyes widened. _'The performance... Shit!'_

"Hey, Kurosaki," Tōshirō crossed his arms over his chest, "What was the important thing you had to tell me again?"

The tomboy's mind practically screamed out in panic. _'Double shit.'_

She looked down at her self and groaned. The stupid dress was still stuck on her body. There wouldn't be enough time to change now!

_'Triple shit!'_

She grabbed her partner's arm and dragged him out the door. But she came back again and glared at the Duo, "Just for the record, I hate you both for making my life so difficult." before slamming the door shut.

When they both reached downstairs, Karin immediately paced around the piano. The white-haired boy could only watch her in silence, afraid that she'll snap at him if he said the wrong thing.

"Tōshirō..." He gave her his attention, "About the important thing..." she slumped down on the piano chair and sighed heavily, "Ringo-san wants us to sing for tonight's performance." She looked up at him apologetically, "He only told me this today, after soccer... Sorry." He stared at her, obviously shocked.

"But we haven't even-"

"I know, I know, we don't have anything to perform... And we haven't even practised a _single _song." She directed her glare upstairs. "What are we supposed to do..."

The icy captain stared at his friend, who seemed to be in total loss. He started to think of an idea.

_Jazz. _Hyōrinmaru said simply.

_'Jazz...?' _He furrowed his eyebrows. Then, it clicked. _'Jazz!'_

"Kurosaki, how many Jazz pieces do you know?"

Karin eyes widened momentarily before she looked up at the ceiling, seeming like she was counting...

"A few," she answered, "Chick Corea, Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, Miles Davis, Chet Baker..."

Yuzu and Matsumoto finally made their ways downstairs, a bit surprised that the piano partners were still here.

"Karin-chan, Hitsugaya-kun," the brunette blinked, "Shouldn't you be going by now?"

Both the captain and the tomboy whipped their heads towards the clock.

4:48 pm.

In a flash, they sprinted towards the door. Both parties fumbled with their shoes (Matsumoto took a quick snap since they were just to _adorable_) before running out of the house.

_"We're going!"_

Karin thanked Kami-sama like a broken record for giving her an athletic figure. They reached Ringo's just in time for their performance. She couldn't lie.

She was shit nervous.

"Tōshirō," she whispered harshly. They were currently making their way to the side of the stage, "What are we supposed to do?"

"Just trust me." he whispered back, gentle and soothing...

Oh yeah. Like _that's _going to calm her. Karin huffed and stared at the microphone.

... But it _did _help...

A little.

Michael Ringo tapped on the two teenagers' shoulders, smiling and wishing them luck for another 'brilliant performance'. They slowly made their way up the stage, the customers' eyes were on them. Some they recognised, some they don't. A majority of the audience cooed when the lights hit the pair. Karin figured that the matching... Erm, _outfits _were the cause of the commotion. The tomboy sat her self on her usual piano chair and waited for her partner to join her.

He didn't.

Instead, he went back off stage, leaving the girl alone in the spotlight. Karin swallowed nervously. She looked back to where Tōshirō had disappeared to before looking back into the crowd. Some of the regular customers gave her an encouraging smile. She returned one of her own ones, except it was shy. A dark, moving shadow at the back caught her eyes. _'Is it a Hollow?' _But it revealed itself as Yuzu, entering the café, along with Matsumoto and her -you guessed it- camera. Karin waited on stage. When her partner finally returned, she heaved a sigh of relief, not bothering to hide it.

The Shinigami made his way to the mic and smiled towards the audience.

Karin swore she heard a few dreamy sighs coming from the crowd.

"Good evening," the ever-so-polite captain greeted with a bow, "Today, my partner and I will be doing a special performance, requested by the owner of the café, Michael Ringo."

Without either Karin's or Tōshirō's knowledge, Matsumoto had turned on her camera and was now filming. This might be her only chance to record something so _romantic..._

"If this is your first time watching," He flashed the audience a smile (that was way to professional, Karin mused), "My name is Hitsugaya Tōshirō and this is my _partner _Kurosaki Karin," both gave a bow to show respect. Although hushed whispers of _'Kurosaki?' _traveled around the room.

Karin could only frown at their rudeness.

After the taichō finished his little speech, he revealed a trumpet from behind his back. The human teenager swore that the instrument wasn't there when he went up the stage. Tōshirō hid his smirk. But he did stroll over to where the astounded Kurosaki was.

"Can you play me a Bb?"

She quickly snapped out of her amazement at the sound of his voice, and complied by playing the desired note. As the Shinigami began tuning the trumpet, Karin looked over at the audience.

"What are you going to do?" she whispered, "Ringo-san wanted us to _sing._"

The boy ignored her (she was getting pretty tired of being brushed off by so many people today...). Instead, he finished the tuning and shrugged back his shoulders.

"Chet Baker, _But Not for Me." _He pronounced the words clearly, with a fluent English accent.

Karin frowned but started playing nonetheless. They played together, in sync.

Calming, melodic...

_Beautiful._

As the sound of the trumpet echoed through the café, many people sighed in relaxation. Karin concentrated her glare at the Shinigami boy in front of her. He dropped the trumpet from his lips and held it to his side before grabbing the mic. The girl's eyes widened,

_'He's really going to...'_

_"They're writing songs of love, but not for me..."_

Some of the female customers giggled as his gaze travelled across the crowd.

Karin could only gape in shock.

_'He knows how to play the trumpet __**and **__sing?'_

As Tōshirō sung the next line, Karin made an effort to continue on playing without making any mistake, ignoring the 'ooh's and 'ah's from the customers as they eyed the singer in amazement. She tried to avoid looking at the back of the boy. Somehow she felt kind of... _Excluded._

_'Oh get a grip, Karin.' _her inner-self scoffed, _'You're only here to play.'_

But then again... She looked up from the keys, only to make eye-contact with the dead soul, she wanted to feel included. As quickly as she looked up, she dropped her gaze and forced her self to concentrate on playing the right chords.

Tōshirō frowned at Karin's action. Why was she pushing him away?

_Shock? _The dragon piped in.

The captain half-heartedly agreed with the dragon.

_"I've found more clouds of grey," _He took a quick glance at Karin, _"Than any Russian play," _Again, she avoided his gaze,_ "Could guarantee." _Giving up on trying to catch her attention, he poured his sadness into the next sentence of the song, _"I was a fool to fall and get that way..."_

Yuzu was watching her soon-to-be brother-in-law singing, and couldn't help but felt some sadness in his words. She tugged on her friend's sleeve -quite hard actually-, demanding her attention. Matsumoto turned her head away from the camera to look at the shorter female.

"What?" she whispered.

The brunette pouted and pointed at Tōshirō's direction.

"I think he's sad," she answered. "His words sound depressing,"

"Isn't the song supposed to sound sad?"

"But not _this _sad." The Duo directed their visions towards the stage. Tōshirō was now finishing up the song. With a quick flick of the wrist, he signalled his partner to cut the song short. He was lucky that she looked up then, or else it would've been a bit chaotic and unprofessional.

_"I guess she's not..." _He unconsciously gazed at the fiery female behind him, _"She's not for me."_

Karin let her fingers danced on top of the keys before pressing the last few notes. The audience clapped politely, applauding the talented performers for their beautiful performance. The captain bowed and motioned the audience to his friend, who had stood up and gave a bow.

They had a small break and the piano players quickly went off stage. The café owner made his way towards them to congratulate them for the show.

"That was amazing!" he laughed heartedly and patted Tōshirō's back. The boy only smiled back in return. The old man turned his attention to Karin -who was awkwardly standing in the corner. "Young lady, you are a lucky girl to have such a wonderful boyfriend!"

Both the teenager and Shinigami choked on their own spit.

The blushing teenager then proceeded to make it clear about their friendship, only friends. Nothing more, nothing less.

But the man acted as if he didn't hear her explanation, and continued to pat the red-faced Shinigami on the back. When he finally stopped and left the two (lovebirds) alone, they both made their way to an empty table at the corner and sat down.

"So," Karin tapped her fingers on the round table, "you sing?"

Tōshirō didn't know if that was a rhetorical question, or just a grey statement. He decided to just nod.

"And you also play the trumpet."

Another nod before both settled into silence. The human girl scanned the café for her sister, only to find her spying on them with the tenth squad's lieutenant. She sighed in defeat,

_'Why do I feel like I'm in a Shōjo Manga?'_

Michael came over to the piano players' table and gave them both a choc-chip milkshake.

"Finish them quickly, okay? You're up again in 5."

The teens nodded their heads and watched as the man walked away to serve an old couple.

"What are you going to perform next?" Karin twirled the straw around her glass before taking a sip, eyes set on her partner. Tōshirō snorted before taking a small and quick sip from his glass.

"Who said I'm going to sing next?" he asked, mouth still on his straw.

The Kurosaki raised her eyebrows, "Are seriously asking me to sing?"

The taichō gave her the _you-know-what-I-mean _look. She groaned quietly and pouted at her friend.

"But I dunno what to sing."

"Lullaby of Birdland." he said simply. "Isn't that the song that you were playing before the photo shoot?"

She blinked at his knowledge in Jazz.

"You know the song?"

He only shrugged, "I've heard the tune, I can play it... But I don't have any clue about the lyrics."

Oh.

Karin finished her drink and looked out the window absentmindedly. She didn't know that she was humming the tune until Tōshirō actually joined her. Both looked at each other before coughing awkwardly.

"W-we should go," the girl stuttered. The dead soul silently agreed and quickly gulped down his beverage.

_The awkwardness between you two never seem to tire me..._ Hyōrinmaru chuckled. The captain gave him a hard mental slap.

When they got back up on stage, the Shinigami captain took the liberty of giving Karin the microphone, as she didn't make any move to get it (_Stage-fright. _The ice dragon commented). She refused to to touch the item, but Tōshirō forced it into her hands. He didn't stay to hear her silent protest, and moved to where the piano was. Sitting himself comfortably, he nodded towards his partner -who in response, glared at him.

The audience waited.

When Karin finally turned her body around, she shyly smiled at the silent crowd.

"Um, tonight I'll be singing Lullaby of Birdland..." She mentally cursed herself for being so anxious.

The piano played and she hummed along, letting her sweet melodic voice travelled in the café. Some of the people gaped at the Kurosaki girl (mostly from Ichigo's class) while the others smiled lovingly.

Her breath hitched in her throat when she realised that her solo was coming up. Tōshirō noticed this and tried to reassure her that it was fine by playing a few soothing notes. The teenager's voice sounded breathy, but she pushed her self to sing.

_"Oh, lullaby of birdland that's what I... Always hear, when you sigh..."_ She took a quick breath, _"Never in my wordland could there be words to reveal," _Her eyes closed as she felt her self calmed down, _"In a phrase how I feel..."_

The captain felt his lips slowly crept up, forming a small smile. Who knew that the tomboy's voice could be so soothing and calming...

And _hypnotising._

_"That's the kind of magic,_

_Music we make with our lips..."_

Karin's eyes traveled to her partner, suddenly imagining them in a fairy tale...

_"When we kiss..."_

Matsumoto eyed the couple from her lenses, somehow curious as to why Karin picked _this_ song to perform. Whether it was intentional or not, she knew that the black-haired female was passing some kind of _secret_ and _personal _message to her captain.

_"He really knows how to cry,_

_That's how I'd cry in my pillow,_

_If you should tell me farewell and goodbye..."_

She switched the mic to her other hand,

_"Lullaby of birdland whisper low,_

_Kiss me sweet, then we'll go,"_

Her eyes, half-lidded, looked back to her friend,

_"Flying high in birdland, high in the sky up above,_

_We're in love..." _

She halved-sung, halved-whispered the last three words.

Tōshirō's heart was pounding against his chest. The last three words...

_We're in love._

It was like, she was directing it to him...

Hell to whole _song _was directed to him.

He concluded the song to an end, putting all his effort into the last part. When the audience (some had tears in their eyes) clapped, the two teenager bowed before taking turn in saying the usual "thank you's" and "we hoped you enjoyed the performance" and "please come to Ringo's to watch us perform again".

They then walked off stage, and excused themselves from the café owner (who smiled at them knowingly) before exciting the café.

Their feet took them to a familiar railing, overlooking the city. They sat in silence, enjoying the view of Karakura under the moonlight. Their hands unconsciously crept towards each other, ever so slowly touching and holding. The two finally took notice at their intertwined fingers, but made no move in pulling away.

Comfortable. Warm. Safe.

_In love,_ Hyōrinmaru added sneakily, smirking at his master's red face.

But nonetheless, the two lovebirds leaned into each other's touch. Enjoying, savouring, clinging to the other's body warmth.

"Hey Tōshirō," Karin's words were whispered quietly, "Can I..."

The Shinigami tilted his head to look at his friend, waiting for her question. Her cheeks were pink, either from the chilly air or what she was about to say, he wasn't sure.

"Can I maybe... Um, kiss you?"

The question caught him off guard. His body stiffened and he looked away to hide his tomato-red face. Karin noticed his reaction and quickly pulled her hand away, stuttering and apologising for her 'stupid' and 'weird' request. She stood up and was about to walk away, feeling embarrassed, when a hand reached up, stopping her from leaving. She stared at her friend, her cheeks still pink and biting her lips, waiting for his response.

Tōshirō stood up and ever so slowly pulled the girl closer to him, bringing their lips together in a sweet -almost delicate- kiss.

They didn't know if it was okay to kiss your best friend.

They didn't care if Shinigami and human relationships were illegal.

They didn't care about wether Ichigo approve of their feeling towards each other or not.

They were still confused about the whole _love relationship._

But for now...

Kissing under the moonlight made them feel safe.

For now...

They didn't care.

When they pulled away, Tōshirō stared into Karin's half-lidded eyes, noticing how cute and feminine she was in this state. He kissed her forehead and embraced her, an action to speak the unspoken words of _"I love you,"_. She reacted by wrapping her arms around his neck, saying too, _"I love you,"._

The click of a camera could be heard from the bushes. Indicating that Matsumoto (and most probably Yuzu) was near by, watching them.

But they both let the Duo be.

For now, at least.

***~** _End _**~***

**Ahahaha! A cute and fluffy ending :3**

**I hope you guys enjoyed that! Let me know what you think! **

**Oh, ya! The songs that I used are:**

**- Chet Baker's _But Not for Me _(Sakamichi no Apollon edition)**

**- Sarah Vaughan's _Lullaby of Birdland _(Sakamichi no Apollon edition)**

**I recommend you guys to listen them since they are very beautiful pieces. I'm a jazz fan so I used some jazz reference to make this chapter a bit more... Classic? Romantic? Ahahaha, I dunno. **

**Don't forget to review~  
**

**Love you guys! Mwah!  
**

**Oh, by the way. I might make a new story later on. So stay tuned!  
**


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